


Conclusion of the past, beginning of the present

by WriterM



Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: F/M, Moving On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 18:55:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20894492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterM/pseuds/WriterM
Summary: Leaving the past is hard.





	Conclusion of the past, beginning of the present

Prologue

Murders, deceit, secrets, epic love and equal loss. That’s the story of my life, you think it sounds cheesy, think I am being dramatic. Well, I am not. Worse thing? I left it behind, but I came back. Over and over again! I am normally a smart girl, but perhaps not all the time.   
First time I left, it was after my first year at college, superfun last term. A sextape of me leaked. I know, how very Paris and Kim, except I didn’t make money of it. Fame? Well, yeah a little fame, but not the kind that would get me into hip clubs in LA, just the kind that will make me the girl everyone has seen doing the deed with her boyfriend. So I left, changed school, got into a better one. 

I had stayed in Neptune because of dad.. and maybe my then former boyfriend, Logan Echolls. Yes, he is the son of who you think, to you he was the son of a moviestar who was tragically killed, to me he was the son of a monster, a murderer and a very violent man. Logan and I were never stable then, we were two different. In high school he was the crazy irresponsible one, later on I became just that. Didn’t trust him to change and he only ever wanted to protect me. It ended and I moved on to the guy I was in the video with, Piz. He was a real dream. Calm, talented, kind, nice and knew how to treat a girl. He made me feel important, he really loved me. We moved, and we ended up in New York, I didn’t follow in my dads footsteps (becoming a P.I), I felt as if I had burned all my bridges there… yeah, I should probably tell you that I was the reason dad didn’t won the sheriffs race. Me and me alone made sure his chances were lost. He protected me, destroying evidence. He wasn’t angry with me, didn’t say a word, he just did it because.. well let’s face it he loves me. 

I stayed away for a long time, Piz and I moved in together, I became a lawyer and it would have probably worked out… but then. Ten years after I graduated high school I got this call. It was Logan Echolls, he was in trouble and even though it wasn’t suppose to happen, it did. I went back, at first only temporarily… but that didn’t last. I broke the heart of Piz… damn I really did. I moved back and it worked pretty good, see Logan was in the navy, he was gone a lot. That meant we didn’t get on each others nerves as much and it worked. I went back to work with dad again, things just got back to where they had always been. Me fighting against the haves, in the name of the have nots, need an example? I have plenty, but let’s take the most obvious one:   
Eli “Weevil” Navarro, the former PCH bikergang leader, we did each other favours all through high school, but then on graduation day his past caught up with him. He was arrested, I didn’t know the details, only that someone was dead and he had the motive. Did I think he killed that someone himself? No, I really don’t, but he did do something. He isn’t dumb, he is one of the very few people I always had to watch out for cause he was sneaky, but a killer? No, that he is not. He was always loyal to me (well sometimes after a few dances back and forth), but after he came out from prison he was broken. I manage to get him a job at my college, but when I left, we lost touch. I was afraid that he would be dead, or in prison when I came back. Turns out, not so much. He was a man, had gotten married and he had a daughter and a legal business. I was happy for him, truly. He hadn’t been on his bike since his child was born, so it appeared he was going to be fine, it gave me hope actually. If he could, surely I could. Then everything changed. He stopped to help a woman I know, tried to help her from being harrassed and she shot him. The sheriff tried to frame him, placed a gun on him. Of course, we won that, but Eli couldn’t deal, he went back. Back to his gang, back to his ways. We were all there for him, me, dad and Cliff ,our go to public defender, prepared a lawsuit towards the sheriffsdepartment… but Eli went behind our back, settled it and all our work was for absolutely nothing. 

1 Logan Echolls

Have you noticed it yet? How I speak about Logan in past tense? He was the son of Aaron Echolls. He was also the boyfriend of Lily Kane, my best friend and sister to my first love, Duncan Kane. He then was my boyfriend on and off, now though… he isn’t here anymore. He turned into a good man, one not deserving of a damage woman like me. He hinted about children towards the end, and that scared me. His almost proposal scared me even more, I found the ring and I told him we were not getting married. He didn’t even get the chance to ask. He wanted me to go to couples therapy---- he did, I refused. I would eventually cave though. We did get married, very simple ceremony, but we did. Not sure I would have caved on the whole kids-thing though, I also caved when it came to therapy, of course by that time it was no longer couple sessions. He didn’t leave me… well not in that sense, but he is gone. Killed by the same man we caught, but I didn’t figure out his clue in time… I didn’t. Of course I shouldn’t blame myself… nope, that’s what they say. The Echolls family is now gone. Dad, the murderer was murdered! Mom committed suicide...jumping from a bridge, something I saw in an amateur movie made by a tiny kid at school. Material never made it out though, Weevil out of all people made sure of that.   
As the muscle he could be trusted and as a friend. He never liked Logan, they did work together a few times, but liking him? No, that he didn’t do. But even he saw Logans eyes, the look and the overwhelming grief. See Logan lost the hope of his mother being alive when we could see a figure falling from the bridge. There is a sister too...Trina, oh god! She left Neptune, even made a movie out of the life of her family, I heard she made millions, and I haven’t heard anything since then. I would think she probably changed her last name. She was at Logans funeral, but not for long. No cameras to cry in front of, and more importantly, no money to collect. Logans inheritage ran out years ago. That’s the thing with money you get when people die, they disappear if not handled correctly. I think I heard something about her doing an interview, then she probably cried, then laughed all the way to the bank. I am not kidding you know, I have never been able to figure out the haves in this town, the have nots is easier to get. 

So how did I handle the loss of Logan? The man who once said our story was epic? Well… I should have left right away, but I choose to take care of dad… which was a lie. I didn’t take care of him. He took care of me, but that was never said out loud. For one year, I was pretty much MIA, there, yet not. Only speaking to Wallace when he came by. Or Matty when she showed up, which was often and then Mac via Skype. She offered to come, but honestly, I didn’t want her to, so she didn’t come. I was still in Neptune, but I was a ghost, hidden away, not really living, only existing. But I would say I actually was able to properly grieve this time. I went to therapy. Sat there, talked and one day I was ready to leave again, ready to live again, and I did. 

2 Richard “Dick” Casablancas Jr

So, was I finally done with Neptune? All the people, except for my dad, I ever loved there was dead. I had no one left but dad, of course that was a deep love. We always made it. When Lily died, when he lost his job, when mom split, when we thought I wasn’t his kid, and when I lost Logan. So that love brought me back, well I like to see it like that. The other option is really painful, the other option is that it was dads love and the fact that I consider Neptune home. Wherever I ended up I felt lost. It didn’t matter where, I couldn’t relax, couldn’t bring myself to do anything other than work, so actually the whole thing where I left to live, that turned out to be a huge lie. So I came back. Dad had the spareroom ready for me, perhaps he knew I would be back. Wallace wasn’t surprised either, no one was. They all seemed to know me better than I ever knew me. 

So the very first time I left the house after I came back I ran into a face I knew. It used to be a face that made me want to vomit and leave, but now it was a face of sorrow, a broken man. I will say this about this man, I never thought of him as deep, never ever! I also kind of admired how he never went to deep in his thoughts, and I know why now. It’s really simple actually, deep thoughts can break you and finally it looked like it had broken him. See many things had happened to me over the years, so much loss… so utterly painful. But I wasn’t alone. If your dad turned out to be a manipulate killer, your brother was a rapist and also a killer (of several people), your mother left and started a new family and then the one friend always by your side dies… well then the line between haves and have not are erased.   
Richard “Dick” Casablancas Jr, it all happened to him. He had never given anything much thought, but now he had to. He was still rich, but he was certainly not happy, and he was no longer a kid… he was a grown man. 

I saw him at dog beach, he sat on his surfboard, and I was about to leave. “Ronnie?” He had then said, and I went up to him. “Dick.” I just said. “Yes, a fitting name I guess it was!” He only said and that’s when I saw it. There had to be a reason he wasn’t out surfing, and there was. A pile of empty cans and joints laid around him, I actually sat down. “Yes, it used to be a good name for you!” I said. “Remember when I was Ricky?” He asked and I did. It was before high school, we had never been that close, but up until high school we had at least been somewhat acquainted. “I do. You were still a dick to Beaver though!” I said, not sure why, I didn’t shed any tears over the boy who had raped me and nearly killed me, once as I was nearly on the bus and once on the rooftop of the Neptune grand. “His name was Cassidy!” Dick said and I froze, why? Because one of the very last thing that boy had ever said, before he jumped of the roof was “My name is Cassidy” in desperation. “You know that there was hardly anyone at his funeral?” Dick said and I didn’t, but god knows I could understand that. “Not on either of the funerals actually. At my dads there were a few, not sure why. I did the right thing though, right? I spent a lot of money on both services. At least they deserve to be buried in style… was just how I thought!” He said and I had no reply. “They were my family, my blood. Where does that leave me Ronnie, where does it leave me?” He asked and he broke down. “I come here everyday, hoping to be able to go out there, just me and the waves, but I can’t. The worst thing is that it took Logans death to make me understand.” I didn’t actually think that was the worst thing. I could see that. Dick then turned to me and I turned to him for the first time. “I’m sorry.” He said. “For all the shit! And for Logan!” He said. “Me too.” I just said and then I realized he was not only drunk and high, he was also kind of beaten up. “What happened?” I asked. “Weevil!” He just said. “Weevil beat you up, why?” I asked him, Weevil and Dick never saw eye to eye… they didn’t actually associate more than if Logan and Weevil got into it. “No. He’s the reason I only look like this, and aren’t dead.” He said. “What?” But I didn’t get an answer, because Dick got up. “Welcome home Ronnie!” He just said, putting his hand on my shoulder, and for the first time I didn’t feel grossed out by him touching me. Then he left. The pile of garbage he left behind acted as a reminder that I wasn’t alone in my grief.   
Dick Casablancas finally had to grow up, he finally had to face the life he now had, where all those he ever would have loved were gone. I had a difficulty understanding and grasping this, Dick had after all done things I could never really understand. Usually I figured it as because he was dumb, but was he? Or did he just wake up one morning and realize he had a brain to think with? It felt really bad to think these thoughts, but on the other hand, I wasn’t use to see this side of him. He was the one who had carried me into a bedroom when I was passed out at Shelley Pomroys party, he was the one edgeing his brother to take full advantage of it. Technically he could be held responsible for it, because he wasn’t the one who took the decision to rape me, his brother did. He did forward my sextape to the entire University, that I could fault him for… but, yeah this was hard.

3\. Valentina “Tina” Navarro and Claudia Navarro

I never really met her until I came back. I saw pictures of her when she was 5, but I never met her. She grew up with her mother far away, but now she was back. I didn’t need to be introduced to her, I knew instantly who she was, she had her fathers eyes. She also were in the company of a woman that almost got me killed, her aunt Claudia. It was hard for me to figure that one out, why would Claudia want me dead, what would I ever had done to her? I mean, sure I have a neck for making enemies, but as far as she goes I didn’t put it all together. We could have just ignored each other, that would have been the very responsible and simple solution, but Claudia was a Navarro, she didn’t let things go. She also seemed to pick her spot. With Valentina in her hand she came up to me and dragged out the chair across from me, sitting down. “So you are back… again! That figures!” She said. “Does it? I mean I don’t think you are wrong, cause I’ve been hearing it alot, but why don’t you give me your theory, unless you want to just sit and stare at me?” I said and Claudia now realized that she had Valentina with her, that wasn’t very thought through. “You must be Valentina. I saw some pictures of you, but you were 5 then, now I am guessing you are 10?” I asked, while Claudia seemed to think of a way to get her away from us. “Yes. So you know my dad? He always shows those pictures!” She asked. “Yeah, we used to be close friends. I am Veronica.” I said and Valentina, only 10 now seemed to get the drill. “Oh.” She just stated and then looked to Claudia. “Can I get something from the cafe?” She asked quickly and just as quickly Claudia found some money in her purse. “I am guessing you don’t want me to leave as well?” I said as Valentina went inside. “Funny enough… that exactly what I want.” She said. “Excuse me?” Claudia watch and waited until Valentina was out of hearing reach. “You really should leave!” She said. “I thought you wanted to talk, so talk… “ I said. “I want you to leave Neptune!” I was about to give her a snappy response, but for once I held back. “All you do is making him lose the sense of himself!” She said. “I assume you mean you brother!” I said. “Of course I mean him. You know as long as you don’t speak he is unstable, when you speak he is like another person. Waiting for your call!” She said. “Funny, I can’t see him telling you that!” I said. “Well, I am not blind!” She said, and her tone was annoyed. “He has been waiting for your call, checking where you are, keeping tabs on you, but stayed back. Now… it will only be a matter of time before you destroy him all over again, like you always do!” She said and now I had enough. “First of all, he is pretty capable to destroy himself. He had his life together and I wasn’t the one to shot him or make him go back to the gang. Nor was I or him the one to send to killers after me, because they were there for me, right?” I asked and Claudia checked first to see if Valentina was on her way back, she wasn’t. “You don’t get it, do you?” She asked, and no, she was right, I really didn’t get it. “You know why he settled that lawsuit?” She asked. “According to him, to save his family, and he couldn’t … that isn’t my fault either!” I said. “Oh my god! For a girl I hear is smart, you sure acted dumb. How would you feel being the wife of a man captured by another woman, so much so that he spent every minute away from home? Jade was a stranger in her own marriage! All because of you! Now if you intend to stay, stay away from him. He can be heartbroken by you again… not after all these years!” She said and now she got up, walking into the coffeeshop to find Valentina, leaving me with only memories. It was a way for me to think back, I had missed that… I never do that!

4 Wallace Fennel

The one I once cut down from a flagpole, his very first day of school. The one who did me all kinds of favours, mostly he didn’t ask why, but there were times he couldn’t take it. Sometimes I gave him ridiculous lies, but sometimes I told him the truth, but I am not sure he had wanted to hear it after I told him. I came clean, about the Lily Kane case, the one I couldn’t let go of. I needed to give her justice, and I uncovered a web of lies, cover ups and secrets. I found myself outside his house, yeah… he grew up. Married, stable job, kids… the whole american dream. He knew me well, he knew I wouldn’t come knocking on his door, so he came out. “Well, how dramatic of you!” He just said. “Yeah, you know me, all about drama!” I said and that was an understatement. “So, no coming in, usually means trouble!” He said. “No trouble, just a lot of thoughts!” I said. “Like?” I looked up at him. “Should I have stayed with Piz?” I asked. “No!” He said, and it was an answer I didn’t understand. Wallace and Piz was close. “Because….?” “In the end, you would have broken his heart anyway. Not really you Veronica. Stable and safe, not you at all and he is all about that. Besides, even if you hadn’t come back to save Logan, you would have come back when the bombings started!” I fiddled with the ring, the wedding band I still carried. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but you kind of belong here!” I nodded, because let’s face it, he was right. “Hmm!” Wallace then said. “What?” I asked. “Nothing, it’s just… you got that Wallace is right look. I like seeing that!” I smiled, because I had to. Not many people knew me like he did. He was truly my brother. “So any other news?” He asked and I thought about it. “Hm… well, not only do I have the Wallace is right look, I was also yelled at today!” I said and Wallace actually looked a bit to happy. “Who did you piss of? You have barely landed girl!” He said. “Well if it was up to that person, I should have never come back!” Wallace raised his eyebrow, he had a hard time to figure out who that was. I made enemies wherever I go, so he probably went through a list. “Actually, the only one I can think of is chief Langdon, she is not a fan of the Mars family… even though you do her job!” He said and that was true. The chief did not like me or my dad, not sure who she liked less. “Well I think that yelling will come, but that wasn’t it!” I said, because I was fairly sure that me and her would have words again. “Right, then I got nothing, and you better tell me, cause we are not doing secrets now, we are getting to old!” Wallace said. “Claudia Navarro!” I said and I was imagining a strong reaction, but instead I got nothing. “Okay, so the no secret thing goes for you too, why are you not reacting like I thought you would?” I asked. “And how would that be? By surprise? Or chock or inability to follow?” He asked. “Well, yes to all three… yet you look like I just said...well nothing big!” “You didn’t!” He said. “I’m gonna need some clarity in that!” Wallace looked at me. “Clarity… hm, alright.. I have a brother, and if he was anywhere near what Weevil is to you, I would scream at the person to disappear!” He said, and now I was the one with the weird face. “No man does all he has done, for a woman just because you owe him favours. No way in hell!” He said. “I’m sorry, should I remind you that we only crossed path because I got you down from the flagpole?” I said. “True, but I stand by my statement. No man does so many things and no man falls so deep down for a woman if there is nothing!” He said. “Falls deep down? He got married, he had a child, that seems like more of a going up rather than down, or am I missing something?” I asked, and it was a fair question, Wallace couldn’t know what Claudia had told me. “And when exactly did that marriage fall apart?” He said, because even though it was a question, I knew it really wasn’t. It was a statement put as a question. “Remember all those times I did favours for you and didn’t ask about it until I got really pissed of?” I nodded. “Did he ever ask why you wanted those favours?” I thought about it. “No, but that was mutual, I got him out of many things!” I said. “And you always demanded an explanation, he never did, he just showed up, did his part with no questions asked. Then we have all times you thought he was the bad guy, if I was the one you always accused, I would have thrown you to the curve, he did not! Look, I know that we shouldn’t dwell on the past, just look forward… but in this case, maybe you should reconsider that. There are always exceptions to rules!” “You sure have a lot of wisdom tonight Fennel!” I said. “Yeah, but it’s not really me you should be talking to, and actually, it’s a school night! Early morning lesson of science for me tomorrow, so need to get me some sleep!” He said. “But, you know, I think I deserve that Wallace is right look more often!” He said and gave me a hug before he left to go into his house. 

5 Eli “Weevil” Navarro part 1

So how do I find the former young leader of a motorcyclegang, turned upstanding citizen then turned leader of said gang again? And should I find him, and if yes, what was I going to say? Perhaps his sister had a point, I am an only child, so I know nothing of sibling relations. Perhaps even though she was a bitch, she may have been on to something, I should probably leave this alone… but I am me, and all those years of secrets and not telling, well it seems it’s time for those to end. It didn’t make me happier, just darker, and I think I have now reached as dark as I would ever be. Back to that question, where do I find him? Well, I knew he had a house, one on the wrong side of the tracks of course, but I was hoping he wasn’t there. See, going there meant meeting Claudia again, and who would that benefit. So that left the bars or the shop. Before I left it was the same kind of shop his cousin use to have. 50% legal business, 50% illegal stuff. The shop was the safest bet, Weevil and I were ind of the same when it came to dealing with shit. We worked and we acted. The difference was that he acted in ways that were… violent, and he couldn’t really work and act at the same time, that I had going for me. I found lights turned on in the shop and parked my car in the lot. As I exited the car I was the light go of. “Weevil?” I asked, because I was pretty sure what he was doing, and then the lights turned back on and he put a gun down. “Busy?” I asked. “Why? What did I do this time?” He asked. “Most people doesn’t seem surprised to see me back, some are angry others happy, you seem only …. can’t find the right word… indifferent?” I said. “Like you asked… if I’m busy, answer is yes, so whatever you feel like asking me, ask and then leave!” He said and I went up to him, he put the gun away on a table. “Who sent you, and what did I do?” He asked. “Sent me…. well, I would say Wallace actually, and perhaps also a little bit Dick Casablancas. As for what you did, I’d actually like to talk about what you didn’t do, or rather what you didn’t say! Can we go inside, or would you still like me to go?” I asked and he looked confused, and perhaps he was also relieved. He knew that whatever he may have been up to, there was no way Wallace nor Dick knew about it. He showed me inside. “Just walk straight, there is an office!” He said, not very eager for me to snoop around. He took the gun with him, something that normally would scare a person, but on the other hand, leaving a gun out in the open in this part of town, wasn’t the smartest thing to do. As we came into the office, he put the gun away in a desk draw and I sat down in the worn out couch he had in there. “Can I get you something, actually, I only have beer!” He said and I nodded, so he took out two beers and he sat down in a chair. “Tell me about what happened to Dick!” I said. “Sure, if you first tell me what he told you!” Weevil said. “Fine. Nothing, he only hinted that you were the reason for him looking like he did, and I have a feeling he didn’t mean it as you did it to him, am I right?” I asked. “So you actually think I didn’t beat the crap out of that rich little surfer boy?” I nodded and he sat back. “I know loss when I see it, and truth to be told, Echolls could always take a beating, turns out so could his friend. He came by here, provoking everyone, asking to be beaten to death, not many would turn an offer like that down!” Weevil said. “... however, he just wanted to feel pain I think!” “So you stopped them?” I asked. “Not at first… but later on.. yeah.” I had a bit of a reverse deja vù. Curly Moran, a man who washed up dead with my name written on his hand, PCH got a tip that he was behind the buscrash, and Weevil beat him up, but not to kill him, but to save him. He didn’t believe Curly caused the crash, in fact he was pretty certain he didn’t. So instead of letting the PCH bikeclub kill him, he beat him so that he would live to see another day, to no avail though, he was killed by Cassidy Casablancas not long after. This time around, he saved Dick, but gave him the chance to feel the pain he so desperately wanted to feel. “You believe me?” Weevil asked. “I do. It makes sense. You never quite like Logan, but you kind of respected him, as for Dick… yeah, he really does hurt right now!” I said and Weevil didn’t say anything, just went back to his beer. “Saw your daughter, she had your eyes!” I then said and that got his attention. “Her mother has a new boyfriend, that made her change her mind about me being able to see Valentina.” He said. “So, that’s it? You wanted to know if and why I saved that white boy?” He asked. “No, that wasn’t it! I had a very long evening. Met Dick at the beach, met your sister and Valentina later on, went to Wallace and now I am here!” “You met Claudia? Though you said you only saw Valentina!” He said. “Yes, we didn’t speak much, nor did I speak much with your sister, she did most of the talking, after Valentina went into a coffeeplace!” I said and now Weevil only smiled. “She’s a smart girl that one. I am pretty sure she might as well could have been there!” Weevil said. “Really?” Weevil nodded. “No secret that Claudia doesn’t like you, she’s pretty vocal about that at home!” He said. “What about you?” I asked. “What you mean?” He asked, suddenly looking a bit concerned. “Well, if she is loud, I can’t imagine you only sitting there saying nothing, plus I got it pointed out that siblings look out for each other, appears that she is looking out for you, concerning me!” I said and now Weevil was really uncomfortable. “Really? She’s looking out for me? She lives under my roof!” He tried. “Not the focus of the discussion!” I said. “She tried to have me killed, didn’t she?” I asked him point blank. “That would have never happened! I wouldn’t have allowed that!” He answered. “Never did anything to her. I have done a lot worse to a lot more dangerous people, so she must have had a good motive!” “Al right, now we are doing the dance, if you have something you wanna ask me, ask it, but this conversation seems more like one you should have with her, not me!” I looked right into his eyes. “When did it stop being about only the favours?” I asked, and now he was surprised, terrified and more uncomfortable than I had ever seen him. “What?” He asked. “You wanted to stop doing the dance, so I stopped, now you spill!” Weevil put his hand up to his mouth, probably to get a few extra seconds to think. “Look, we all have feelings, we think them, but we never act on them. It wouldn’t be any use to do so!” He said, and it sounded somewhat honest. “Ok. That sounds a lot like something one has thought about for a long time! And also someone insecure would say, I can’t see you as insecure!” I said. “Well, you never really knew me, did you. You knew of me… but you never knew me as a person!” He said. “No? You father was killed in prison when you were 7, he served time for rape, which is where your protective nature of women come from, together with the fact that your mother was often in the hospital, bruised and abused, but she would never say who was behind it. Then when you were 9, she died from an overdose and you and your siblings went to live with Letty. My dad arrested you for the first time when you were 12, he drove you home to Letty and let you go with a warning. Then the school nurse had to take care you after you came to school beaten almost beyond recognition, which I would guess was your initiation into the PCH bike club. You hate drugs because Felix brother disappeared without a trace after working with the Fitzpatricks and because it took the life of your mom…. and then if I am to believe Claudia, your wife left you, not because you went back into the PCH, but because she felt like you spent to much time with me. If that is true, you were telling the truth when you told me you settled the lawsuit to save your family! How did I do?” Weevil put his beer on the desk. “Senior year, some of the boys shot a hole into Logans car. I had no idea you were inside, and when they told me where the car was found, I freaked. That’s when I knew for sure!” He said. “So Claudia was right, for a girl that they say are smart, I am kind of dumb, or at least blind!” I said. “No V, look at me, look around. Nothing big and nice about this. Nothing for you anyway. You deserve better, you got better, you will get it again! You weren’t blind, I just wasn’t on your radar, and honestly, why would I be?” I looked up on him. “Really? You’re gonna give me the whole judgemental thing, me...out of all people? Now that shows you don’t know me, just of me!” I said, because that pissed me of big time. “Nah, I know you, I know the basis of everything, not claiming I know things like you knew my sit. But I do know you. But look at your trackrecord!” He said, and I actually needed to smile. “What?” I shook my head. “Well, I never thought I would say this, but Dick Casablancas may have had a point. He called me something like rich dudes kryptonite, and actually, that’s not very far from the point you are trying to raise. But I have never gone after anyone because they had money!” I said, now completely serious again. “Not what I am saying, but the one’s you do pick can offer stability, can you imagine me offer that?” He said. “Um, you do remember Logan in high school, right? And after… you call that stability?” I asked and I figured I had won this debate. “Yes!” He just said. “huh?” Was all I could manage to get out. “He could offer you stability with money, and later on he wanted to protect you at any price! Was he an asshole? Hell yeah, but pure evil… no!” “So this is about money?” I asked, because now I didn’t follow, I had a very long day. “Perhaps a bit. Had you stayed together the first time around I think you would have had a nice house around here with someone like Claudia cleaning it!” Now I got up. “Could you stop? Can you honestly see me in a big house with staff tripping all around me, because if that’s what you see, then you really don’t know me!” “I’m saying that I want that for you!” He said. “That’s noble, but I think I should be allowed to have a say in this, hence it being my life we are talking about!” And that’s when it happened. I don’t like to admit it, but Weevil is one of few people who has managed to trick me, and I walked right into this one. He smirked a little and took his beer. “Good, go on then, what do you want?” I sat down again. “Well played! But honestly… what I do want right now is to sleep, obviously I am not my normal sharp self, and to figure that out, I need some sleep!” He looked at me. “Yeah, and actually as far as I am concerned, you really don’t owe me an answer.” He said and I had to really focus on my answer, that’s how tired I was. “I don’t agree. When I have that answer, I will give it to you!” I said and got up. “Well, you know where I am!” He said and I nodded, indeed I did. Claudia really may have been in the right, she did probably only look out for her brother, and perhaps also the fact that money would not come into the household as easy if I was around… but I honestly more thought it was about a sister not wanting to see her brother hurt...again! “Need a ride?” Weevil asked and I snapped back into reality, and this question didn’t need much thought. I would be an accident waiting to happen. “Yes. But no bike, I will fall of!” I said and gave him my keys. “I can get a ride and pick the car up tomorrow!” I said and he took my keys. I sat down in the passengerseat, and then I was awaken by him. “Hey, you’re home, and I really don’t want to carry you inside!” He said and I looked around. We were indeed at dads house and I went out. “Here! I could use a walk!” He just said, gave me my keys and started to walk away. In a movie this was probably the time where I was to scream something intelligent, and he would turn around and whatever happens in those movies after that we know. But people in movies never get very tired. I was, so I made sure he had locked the car, which he had, from where he was from that was a necessity, and then I walk up to the door. The house was quiet. 

6 Matty Ross and Duncan Kane

When I was her age I had already seen way more than some see in a lifetime. Matty lost her father in the first bombing, the one orchestrated by Richard Casablancas Sr. Before that I think she probably was a normal teenage girl, one who had a close relationship with her hardworking father, then she turned and become the way she is now. Sound familiar? Well, I think it does, and so does dad. I think he is really happy she isn’t his daughter, he says that he wouldn’t be able to handle another one like me. When I came into Mars Investigation this morning I found her at the reception desk, her feet up and kicking back to some music. I sat down in the visitors chair and when she finally looked up, she almost fell of the chair. “Are you crazy?” She yelled, then realizing that she needed to turn of her music. “Me? I could have been a client, and had I been I bet they would have yanked you of that chair real fast!” I said. “Your dad’s out!” She then said. “Yes, I figured, his door is open and there is no one in it, I am a trained P.I you know!” I said. “So when did you get home? I left your house like 1, and you weren’t there yet… also your dad didn’t seem worried, which is really weird for being him!” Matty said. “He might have been busy trying to get you out of the house!” “I think he just acts like he doesn’t want me around! He secretly loves it!” Matty said. “I am not so sure! But then again, I just got back!” I said. “Yeah, and if I understand it correctly, you don’t really have a bunch of friends to catch up with, only like Wallace and everyone knows that he goes to bed like 9, he was always that annoying well rested teacher at school!” Matty said. “Well, maybe I wanted to just be on my own!” I said. “Is that not what you have been?” She asked, and yes I can’t help but feel a little proud. Matty had come a long way. “Maybe. I visited and was visited by a few people, only one was Wallace, another was an old…. asshole that I am not sure what to call him now, then an angry lady and a young girl, then an old friend! It was a very long night!” I said. “So I found this!” Matty then said and pulled up a photo from a drawer, it was the promphoto of me, Lilly, Logan and Duncan. Four people, two were dead, one was long gone and then me. It was a way simpler time. I took the photo and looked at it. “So, the girl is Lilly Kane, and then there is Logan...who is he?” She asked and I realized that Matty was way too young to have known the whole story. “That’s Lilly’s brother, Duncan Kane. My first boyfriend.” I said. “Why didn’t I know the Kanes had a son?” She then asked, and she asked it fairly. “Because he had a child, the mother of that child died and he ran away with the baby!” I said. “Do you miss him?” She asked and it had been a long time since someone asked me about Duncan. “Not sure. He had to leave, I know he had to. Just wasn’t meant to be!” I said. “Do you think you would have stayed together if that whole… um … baby thing hadn’t happened?” That was also a question I hadn’t thought about for many years, it was a hard one. Duncan was great in so many ways, but would we really have been able to be together after I turned into the girl I now was. When we dated that second time, it was good I guess… but was it meant to last? “Hello????” Matty said loudly. “Sorry, just haven’t given that any thoughts in a very long time. So I guess my answer to you is that I don’t know, but probably not.” I said and I based it on what happened with me an Piz, they were a lot alike, if you took away the fact that Duncan was rich. Nice guys, kind and all kinds of lovely, those kinds that I tended to break the heart of, like I did with Piz. “Where did you find this?” I asked Matty and held up the picture. “In a box, it was marked “Veronica ???”, guess you dad didn’t know what to do with the things in there!” “I see, and he wanted you to go through the box?” I asked. “Well, he left it standing in the guestroom, so yeah I really think he wanted me to go through it!” Matty was about to say something else when she turned quiet and then regained herself. “Umm, yes?” She said and I turned around. “Blondie… been some time!” The man at the door said before he came in.

7 Matty Ross and Hector

“It has… Hector!” I said and Mattys eyes got bigger. “What do you want?” She asked, boldly. “Well, I came here looking for an investigator, however a fairy godmother would do… got any get out of jail free cards?” Hector asked and it was directed to me. “Fairy godmother?” You must be in real trouble!” I said. “Not me. Weevil!” He said. “What? Why would we wanna help you and your gang out?” Matty said. “Did you have a mystery child that is now just as big mouthed as you use to be?” Hector asked and looked at Matty. “I rub of on people! Why is Weevil in trouble?” “Don’t know, the chief picked him up this morning out of bed, something about an assault, I was hoping your dad could try and figure out what the hell happened, Weevil says he doesn’t remember last night and not that I am keeping tabs, but we kind of saved your lives!” Hector said. “But then he could have done it!” Matty said. “Well due, that’s why I turn here, can’t go to the police and see what they find, can I? So blondie, up for a little helping?” He said and I got up. “He’s in jail?” I asked. “Yeah, no bail we can afford!” Hector said and I nodded. “That’s it? No snappy comment, no needing cash upfront…?” Hector asked. “Like you said, you saved me and dad’s life!” I said leaving the office, I could feel the looks of both Hector and Matty in my back. 

8 Chief Langdon

“Ms Mars? I didn’t know you were back?” Langdon said and her body language said it all, she wasn’t happy. “Yeah. Also, you could have not been force to see me if we would be able to see people in custody without going through you. Can΅t believe this comes out of my mouth, but I kinda miss the sheriffs office!” And if somebody else would have heard me utter those words, they wouldn’t have believed I said them. “And I can guess that you missed having your father here as well” Langdon said and I just smiled. “Funny enough, no! He makes better money as a P.I and also, when he was here it was harder for me to sneak in.” Langdon raised an eyebrow. “So, what can I do for you?” “I’d like to see Wee.. well Eli Navarro, I heard you had him here!” I said and Langdon just looked at mer for some time, she was trying to figure me out! “I take it you know each other?” She asked, but that was not really what she wanted med to answer. “Yes, we went to school together, so we have known each other for a long time!” “And you just wanted to say “hi”? I smiled. “Nope, I’d like to get him out, I could ask him why he is here, then come back to you, then I could go to my dad and we would both come here and take up more of your time, of you could just tell me!” Langdon now looked annoyed. “So is it some sort of grudge you and your dad have? That you want us to be wrong and look incompetent?” She asked. “No. But if that is the way you think you look, I think you need to change it. So.. Why is he here?” I asked. “He assaulted a man at bar last night, he was picked out of a line up and since he isn’t talking, that usually means he knows he is guilty or that he really don’t remember yesterday, which more than likely makes him guilty!” She said, and actually, I could follow that! “Hmm you victim must have a good memory!” I said. “Eli Navarro is pretty easy to recognize!” “And when did this awful crime happen?” I asked. “around midnight. He was in surgery through the night, and after he woke up he got to see a photoline up!” I looked up. “You gave a drugged up victim a photo line up with a known criminal, cause as you said he is easy to recognize!” I said, and it just came out, had no intention..really to piss her of. “Well, that is how policework is done.. when it is done by the books!” She said with a huge amount of passive aggressiveness. “Fine. I’d like to see him! And don’t worry, I’m not gonna try and bust him out!” Langdon looked puzzled. “I didn’t know you knew each other that well!” She said. “Well if you had grown up here, you would know that it’s a very small town, and those who aren’t millionaires know each other!” I said. “Fine!” She then just said and we walk together to the holding cells, she took a long look at me before she let me in. 

9 Eli “Weevil” Navarro part 2

“You getting old, because you seem to have a little trouble with your memory!” I said and Weevil got up from his bunk. “Why are you here?” He asked. “You’re asking me that? Why are you here? You were with me when that man was assaulted yesterday!” I said. “Yeah, well I wasn’t sure if that was something you would admit to, so instead of relying on you I just said I couldn’t remember!” “That went well!” I said. “I didn’t think someone would finger me for something I didn’t do… ironically… only after words I remembered that this is Neptune!” I nodded, because if you know Neptune, you know things like that happens here, quite a lot actually. The very first time it happened was when Abel Koontz took the blame for the Lily Kane murder, he was a patsy, trying to give his daughter some money, which ended up with her getting killed (a fact I didn’t tell him as I sat by his bed when he took his last breaths, dying from cancer with no one else but me by his side). Then we have Logan, he was thought to have killed Felix and we actually also have Weevil who was picked out of a line up in a fraud case at Hearst. So yeah it does happen here. “So you didn’t learn that last time?” I asked. “That time it was a bunch of rich assholes that needed an easy scapegoat, I was perfect… this dude, I don’t even know who he is!” Weevil said. “Well, I am not sure that he knows you either, who would blame an act on a bikeleader… bit risky!” I said, and it was. If I was the victim I would want the right person in jail for it, and I would really not try and blame it on a guy who has a small army of bikers obeying him! “You piss anyone off lately?” I asked. “Plenty of people… but not me personally, just my boys!” “Know who and what they have done, because one of your boys who came to me!” I said. “Who?” He asked, surprised. “Hector.. well he really wanted my dad, figured that the fact that you saved our lives was worth him looking into this!” “So that’s how you found out?” Weevil asked. “Yes, why?” I asked and then I heard humming, humming I knew and the door opened. “All right Mr Navarro… Veronica?” Cliff M’cormack stood in front of me. “Hey Cliff! New case?” I asked. “Well, Mr Navarro here called me, wanted me personally and quite frankly I only care for money, I don’t hold grudges!” He said and I knew that was true. Me and dad was another thing. The day Weevil had settled his claim behind our backs me and dad stopped talking to Weevil. So did Cliff, but he would also take cases for not only Weevil but for other PCH ers, he wasn’t greedy per say (public defenders aren’t amongst Neptunes riches).. he just didn’t hold grudges. “I know you don’t, how’s it looking?” I asked. “Not very good. Picked out of a line up and no memory of last night...also...your past… let’s just say that Langdon feels pretty good about this!” Weevil just nodded. “Al though, I might be able to get you bail, always something.” “He was with me… well I was with him, at his shop last night!” Cliff looked from me to Weevil. “Well that would have been great to mention, wouldn’t it?” He said. “They can check the GPS on my car!” I said. “All right… I guess that makes it better. I’m gonna have a chat with Langdon!” Cliff said, and he then backed out of the room. “Great, now you will need to sit down with her!” Weevil said. “True, but she will want to keep it short, I don’t think she likes me, can you believe it?” I asked and Weevil really could. I turned to him. “What do you want?” I asked him. “What I want? Are you fucking kidding me? You should answer that for you, not ask me, you know what I want… and what I can offer!” He said, which was true. “I guess I just want to hear you say it!” I said. “Why? So you can feel loved, and then leave again?” He asked. “No, because you have never said it or told me!” “I was trying to not get hurt!” He said. “Yeah, but you gotta know it doesn’t work like that, right?” “I do, so do you, but we still try it!” I didn’t move. “I’ll tell you a story… it’s about this nosy skinny white girl who challenge me at school in front of my boys, it pissed them of, but made me curious… not in love… curious. Then she got me to take the blame for a crime I didn’t commit, only to prove I actually didn’t do it! Then she started to date some dude who got sent away to boarding school, but tried her best to save him and called me for help. Then it was that cure clean cut deputy, then Echolls, then the perfection himself Duncan Kane. Then back to Echolls, I mean the day you told me at Hearst the two of you were dating again… that made me mad… and not because I hate him, but because I thought that it would last, that scared me. Then it was that other one… also clean cut and nice… and one day you had left Neptune with him. Just heard about you, but nothing from you. So I got over it, I was fine. Married, child, got out and then… there you were again. 7 years later at a high school reunion, I was riding around Neptune alone trying to get my shit together, then I got shot and you were there when I came to! It just… it’s hell really! I hate these feelings and this weird thing that makes me not be able to let you go or to forget you… so there it is, now all it needs is an ending and that has to come from you, not me!” Weevil backed up. “However though, I ‘ll always be there for you, always!” I bit my lip and had no words, again in a movie this would have been the time perfect word came out of my mind. Instead I was speechless. Then the door opened. “So, the two of you talked through your alibi?” Langdon said. “You mean the truth? Yes, we have!” I said, now able to talk. “ I need to see you!” She said to me. “Of course, this way is it?” I asked and started to walk.

10 Conclusion

“So do you normally visit shops in that part of town late at night?” She asked. “No, special occasion!” I said. “And why is that?” “I just got back, I spent the day speaking to a range of people, all of them lead me to that shop and him!” I said. “For a case?” She asked. “Kind of. The case of me!” I replied. “And a gangleader would have the answers? He has quite the record!” She said. “I know, my dad picked him up plenty of times, and I helped him plenty of times when they got it wrong, you know like now. The other times I had to work harder though! But to answer the question, yes, he did have answer or rather words that I needed to hear!” “So you were there how long?” She asked. “I came there a little after ten, and he drove me home after 1! Just check the GPS in the car!” I said. “We have!” Langdon then said. “So, why are we hear then?” “I am a bit puzzled as to why he didn’t mention you were there!” She said. “That’s not a crime!” I said. “It would have saved a lot of unnecessary time!” “Sure, but your victim pointed him out, he never confessed anything… so you could have continued to work the case. It isn’t a crime to not remember the day before either, if he hadn’t remembered yesterday and I hadn’t come, you still would have had the wrong guy in jail!” I said and she picked up the phone. “Release Mr Navarro, go back and talk to the victim!” She put down her phone. “I really hope that this time around we won’t have to deal with each other that much!” She said. “Are you telling me that if you aren’t doing your job correctly, I shouldn’t do mine? Because if you are, that is a really bad thing to say. Besides, I never just sit back on the sidelines, I never have and I never will. I have lost so many and so much, but I am not losing myself again!” With that I got up and left her office, meeting Cliff. “Well, that was a success, hardly even had to work, glad you are back Veronica!” He said. “Oh, you have no idea how great it is to hear that, I didn’t get the impression that the chief felt the same way!”

I pulled up to the shop again and saw Hector and another younger man, him I had seen before, and he hadn’t forgotten about me! “You! You were the one who forced JD out of town!” He said charging at me. I pulled up my taser and he stopped just in time. “Yes, and I also robbed him and put my keys in his leg, I don’t think you want to mess with me, does he?” I asked Hector, who smiled. “No dude…”He just said, grabbing the guy away. I went in and found Weevil in his office. “Back to buisness?” I asked as he tried to organize some papers. “Almost, the cops made a fucking mess in here!” He said. “Did they, because from what I could see last night, it was already kind of a mess!” I said. “Yes, but that was my mess, and I find shit in my mess! Gonna tase me?” Weevil asked and I realized that I still held the taser in my hand. “Oh this, no I just kindly introduce myself to one of your boys out there.” Weevil stopped what he was doing and looked at me. “Someone bothering you?” He asked. “Nope. I didn’t even get to use it! Besides Hector was outhere, and this time I saved your ass! Of course not from mexican killers, but still!” I sat down in the couch again. “Got any beer?” I asked and he pulled out two. “Yeah, that is something I always have!” I opened it and drank several zipps. “Damn, it’s like you were the one in prison!” He said. “Matty, a girl in my office…” I started. “Yeah, the one always at your house!” Weevil said and I realized that Claudia again had been right, he had been keeping track of me. “Hector told me she had quite the mouth!” I smiled. “That she has, she also have a tendency to snoop around and quite frankly I never realized how much I pissed people off by being nosy! But I know now! She find the prom picture, the one with Lily, me, Logan and Duncan… she knew nothing about Duncan, so his mission to be forgotten has succeeded, but she asked me about him.” I said and drank some more. “And?” He asked. “Well, a lot of what I would have wanted if things hadn’t happened, like if me and him would have stayed together… I haven’t thought about that in so many years… then it hit me, no! He will always be the first boy I was in love with, but we are to different. If Lily hadn’t died, it would have taken me longer to realize who I am… but now I know and that is not the significant other of Duncan Kane. And then…” I took of my necklace and put it on the table, then I looked at my wedding ring again. “He spent a fortune he didn’t have any more on this thing! Stupid man!” I said and took it off. I put it on the necklace, the same one that Lily had given me, and the very same one I once accuse Weevil of stealing from me. “Could you?” I asked Weevil as my hands were shaking, he got up and put the necklace around my neck again, it was so wrong that the ring and shape of the necklace fit together perfectly. Weevil went back to sit down in the chair, but I took his hand. “I’m sorry.” I said and he just nodded. “It’s ok, I never expected anything, so I never said something!” He said, but I shook my head. “No. I mean I’m sorry for not understanding and I ‘m sorry I hurt you.” I said. “Actually, I’m gonna need some clarity behind those words, one can be sorry without meaning it as more than just a “sorry”, so I am actually not entirely sure what you are saying.” He said. “Nor am I!” I got up and he let go of my hand, thinking I was going to leave, because that’s what I do. Instead I kissed him and he kissed me back. I broke away first and looked at him. “But, first rule… You know that I am smart enough to figure out whatever thing you are doing here. You told me once, you couldn’t changed, then you did..now it’s time again, because I will find out, snoopy as I am!” He smiled and then just nodded.


End file.
